Going Down The Rabbit Hole.

[andrew g]

Originally Posted by Gem

This is about the balance isn't it, a stable disposition, a sense of equanimity, an acceptance of what is, a 'this will pass' feeling?

Yes, thats it. I think I would judge my balance as a pretty solid B+ these days, which is better than the D- a few short years ago. Ive always been ambitious though, so Im going for the straight A. Of course, my B+ could be someone else's C!

Sharing a bit of gossip about my current situation, you might (or might not be) interested to know that me, Jenn and the kids are now living at my Mum and Dad's house. The move was triggered by my Mum and Dad's health situation which basically got to a point where the only thing appropriate for us to do was move in with them and help out. I can tell you that my balance, stability and sense of equanimity has been tested in a whole new way in the last couple of months!

[Gem]

Originally Posted by andrew g

Yes, thats it. I think I would judge my balance as a pretty solid B+ these days, which is better than the D- a few short years ago. Ive always been ambitious though, so Im going for the straight A. Of course, my B+ could be someone else's C!

Sharing a bit of gossip about my current situation, you might (or might not be) interested to know that me, Jenn and the kids are now living at my Mum and Dad's house. The move was triggered by my Mum and Dad's health situation which basically got to a point where the only thing appropriate for us to do was move in with them and help out. I can tell you that my balance, stability and sense of equanimity has been tested in a whole new way in the last couple of months!

Well done Andrew. It's a wonderful wonderful thing.

[andrew g]

Originally Posted by Gem

Well done Andrew. It's a wonderful wonderful thing.

Thanks Gem. Yes, its not been easy at times by any means, but overall it has been a wonderful thing.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by andrew g

Thanks Gem. Yes, its not been easy at times by any means, but overall it has been a wonderful thing.

A very difficult thing... but valuable... and I guess it is one to always be mindful of your state of equanimity... and take it from me, that's something of a gem.

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by Gem

God. The ultimate justifier of war and murder.

I think you'll find yourself rather selective in which beliefs you validate and which beliefs you don't, but you make benign scenerios consisting of what you find acceptable. You don't stretch into naziizm, terrorizm, racizm... if you did you'd find you validate beliefs alligned with your own, and have no respect for some others.

Gem, in no way do I say we have to accept beliefs or actions that are dehumanising and contrary to life. Nor to justify psychopathic actions in any way.

I am only saying that in order for ppl to heal, we need to take responsibility both for ourselves and for one another. That last is tricky and many have trouble grasping it. But it is the only way forward as a race, the human race.

Ultimately no one can save another because the final choice is individual. It still doesn't alleviate our mutual responsibility toward one another. That we are all of and in God is the only reason God was mentioned.

But that if we fail to socialise (i.e. love and bond) as children, this is the result...from maladjusted adults that cannot form healthy attachments...all the way to sociopaths who display violence, lack of empathy, & remorse stemming from trauma and abuse suffered in childhood. Many can be helped through therapies and self-engagement in their healing process. Some, like sociopaths, seem broken beyond repair in this lifetime. And the fallout of course reaches far beyond any one individual to the lives of all others they touch.

Our responsibilities to ourselves and to others never really begins and never really ends. It is always there. Ours to them. Theirs to us.

Peace & blessings,
7L

[sound]

Originally Posted by 7luminaries

I am only saying that in order for ppl to heal, we need to take responsibility both for ourselves and for one another. That last is tricky and many have trouble grasping it. But it is the only way forward as a race, the human race.

How can we be responsible for how others respond [to life] 7L? I understand that it serves the greater good if we show compassion and understanding toward each other but to take ownership of each others responses? Maybe i am misunderstanding ... it wouldn't be the first time lol

Hey, very interesting conversation ! Mind if i jump in ?
"Some, like sociopaths, seem broken beyond repair in this lifetime" And then maybe there's always the next lifetime if you believe in reincarnation and maybe the Great Spirit has made sure no soul is lost in the end, providing us with the right challenges each life so in our final life on this Earth we are ready to join Spirit. I cannot imagine a God that would create its children only to abandon them because they didn't make the right decisions. I believe (and know i could be wrong of course) that God=Love and Light. And Love does not punish, Love teaches although children do not always understand what's for their benefit. Many times my children cry and think i'm punishing them when i don't buy them that chocolate or a toy, but i love them more than anything, i only don't want their teeth to go rotten or become spoiled.
So i think we should strive to judge and better ourselves first and leave it to Spirit to prepare each one's path and challenges (lessons)
As for the title of this thread....hey just imagine us knowing everything.....boring !! Where's the fun if you know the answer to all questions ?

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by sound

How can we be responsible for how others respond [to life] 7L? I understand that it serves the greater good if we show compassion and understanding toward each other but to take ownership of each others responses? Maybe i am misunderstanding ... it wouldn't be the first time lol

Nah...LOL...rather it's easily misunderstood but I mean it in both the most direct and extensive sense.

We aren't responsible for others' responses.

But we are responsible for our own intentions, thoughts and actions toward one another.

E.g., if we are callous or cruel to another, with or without intention, it's our responsibility. We are aware of the former failing, if we're honest with ourselves. Awareness of the latter failing comes only with a heightened sense of awareness and is trickier to sort out.

The best IMO is to be fully aware and (to use the buddhist term) perform "right action" with good intention toward all. That level of awareness and purity of orientation is always a work in progress. And yet it is still a worthy and necessary goal, IMO.

If parents fail to love and bond with the child...
We may get a sociopath who has no concept of empathy or remorse.

If we fail to stop at the light...and hit someone...
we may kill them...

If we see an accident and fail to help or call...
we may have failed to intervene when a life depended on it.

The first has to do with both love and support, but so do the latter two. Though we may see it more as support, since the love is more generic and universal. In the former, the love is more personal (we hope).

But those two are what we are responsible for, toward ourselves and toward one another. Just because another is ultimately responsible for himself or herself doesn't mean we are not responsible for loving and supporting them. We still are. What they do with that is on them. Our level of love and support naturally depends on our level of engagement and connection, i.e. whether we know someone or not & interact w/them or not. But the general idea holds at all levels.

Once we've healed ourselves sufficiently to raise our heads and look around...I believe this is part of the truth we find, each in our own way.

Peace & blessings,
7L

[Gem]

Originally Posted by 7luminaries

Gem, in no way do I say we have to accept beliefs or actions that are dehumanising and contrary to life. Nor to justify psychopathic actions in any way.

I am only saying that in order for ppl to heal, we need to take responsibility both for ourselves and for one another. That last is tricky and many have trouble grasping it. But it is the only way forward as a race, the human race.

Ultimately no one can save another because the final choice is individual. It still doesn't alleviate our mutual responsibility toward one another. That we are all of and in God is the only reason God was mentioned.

But that if we fail to socialise (i.e. love and bond) as children, this is the result...from maladjusted adults that cannot form healthy attachments...all the way to sociopaths who display violence, lack of empathy, & remorse stemming from trauma and abuse suffered in childhood. Many can be helped through therapies and self-engagement in their healing process. Some, like sociopaths, seem broken beyond repair in this lifetime. And the fallout of course reaches far beyond any one individual to the lives of all others they touch.

Our responsibilities to ourselves and to others never really begins and never really ends. It is always there. Ours to them. Theirs to us.

Peace & blessings,
7L

I don't understand God, but I have noticed He is used as the centrepiece of judgement and justification, so I tend to to leave these notions to others.

It's a perpetual classification exersize... what is sociopathic and the levels of where a problem is as opposed to the level it is examined from and what level I'm on as opposed to the healer's level, but I can feel what does move and what is a static theory, so am compelled to feel movement, and I get tired of wisdoms and sayings and niceties which float on the air but can't be breathed, tasted or felt.

It's a compultion to speak from the earth while playing in the dirt.

i have a question......if we are all here to experience, and it's been said many times in many threads here that we are, why is the sociopath's experience less valid then the lover's?